Esquire Network Blog

Join the adventure with USA’s new event series DIG by searching for the symbol in the image above somewhere on our website for a chance to win treasure. Need a couple hints to get started? Kick off the scavenger hunt by heading over to our football field.

Watch the premiere of DIG on Thursday, March 5 at 10/9c on USA Network.

ESQUIRE NETWORK AND 92Y HOSTED FRIDAY NIGHT TYKES SCREENING AND PANEL DEBATING THE STATE OF SPORTS IN OUR CULTURE

-- Notable Panelists Included NFL Pros Tiki Barber and Bart Scott --

On Wednesday, January 14, Esquire Network and 92nd Street Y joined forces to curate the imperative conversation surrounding youth sports in America, particularly youth tackle football. NFL pros, key influencers and members of the media participated in a productive debate on the state of sports in our culture with an informative conversation that addressed important questions surrounding youth sports, safety, parenting and coaching.

Prior to the panel, the audience screened a preview of Friday Night Tykes, Esquire Network’s original documentary series, premiering its second season this coming Tuesday, January 20 at 9|8c. Friday Night Tykes follows five teams of 10- and 11-year-olds playing in the Texas Youth Football Association (TYFA), one of the sport’s most competitive youth football leagues in the country.

KEY QUOTES:

TIKI BARBER: We can look into your statistics, and the NFL even says that a third of their retired players are going to have some sort of cognitive problem going forward. And that brings in the existential problem of the NFL. Could it go away if parents are finding out that their kid could die unnaturally too young? Yes, of course…And it started a discussion. And at the end of the day, as long as there is a discussion, there can be progress.

BART SCOTT: I don't really agree with this [USA] heads up movement either. I think it's safer, but I don't think it's the right thing we should be teaching our kids…You won't see anybody -- any coach in NFL saying heads up. Because if you run up like that, you're going to see kids get hit with helmets from the runners to the sternums, to the ribs.

TIKI BARBER: Do we not secretly like the violence? We want to see someone getting knocked the eff out.

BRIAN MORGAN: In Texas, you start playing tackle football as soon as you can carry a football.

BART SCOTT: I'm sorry, I like the fact that you don't give trophies to everybody, and I love the fact that you do not guarantee playing time because playing time is earned on a practice field. You have to send a message to the kids at an early age that if you want something in life, you have to earn it.

MATT MARANZ: The kids are getting hurt left and right here. This season in particular, we see more ambulances coming on the field, taking kids off. It wasn’t just the juniors or rookies. There were definitely some six or seven-year-olds. A little kid has a hard time distinguishing between pain and injury.

MATT MARANZ: What I find really interesting about youth sports is that it's a world that's created for the kids. But it's a world that's created by the parents. And you have to ask the question, and we would find this week after week after week: Is youth sports really about the kids or is it more about the parents?

MATT MARANZ: The other part of the equation is that Brian and TYFA, the coaches and parents…These are true believers. America is a weaker country because we are too soft on our kids.

DR. ROBI LUDWIG: The interesting thing is this could be called helicopter parenting where the parents are so in the faces of the coach that it creates weak kids, because they're saying to themselves my parent is going to fight my battle for me. So, that's not creating strength of character.

TIKI BARBER: Who am I to tell my kid who has a passion to play a sport that he can't do it? I want him to be safe, but I'll never tell him he can't do something.

BRIAN MORGAN: These parents, they get too wrapped up in a game. And I've always said, if we can take parents out of youth sports, it'd be a beautiful thing.

Friday Night Tykes Season Two premieres Tuesday, January 20th at 9|8c on Esquire Network.

At today’s Television Critics Association tour, Esquire Network announced the renewals of two original series, CAR MATCHMAKER and BOUNDLESS, as well as plans to once again air the RUNNING OF THE BULLS as a live, eight-day event this July. Matt Hanna, Esquire Network’s head of original programming, made the announcements prior to the network’s presentation of the April documentary series THE RUNNER-UP.

To date, Esquire Network has premiered 21 original programs and specials, garnering double-digit growth in all key demos. In 4th Quarter 2014 vs. 4th Quarter 2013 (the first quarter with year-over-year comparisons), the network increased its audience by +25% in its target demo of Men 18-49, and +31% Adults 18-49 and +21% Total Viewers (L+SD, Prime).

Returning originals have been strong performers for the network, with an average increase of +36% among Men 18-49 and +45% among Adults 18-49 vs. first seasons. Building on this success, the network announced a second 18-episode season of CAR MATCHMAKER, set to premiere in 2nd Quarter 2015. In each half-hour episode, host Spike Feresten meets buyers in need of a car and draws upon his knowledge and instinct to find the perfect choice for them. The series is produced by Ellen Rakieten Entertainment, a division of Relativity Television.

Additionally, a third season of the travel and adventure series BOUNDLESS, will enter production next month. The 10-episode season follows four elite athletes – two new to the series — who push the boundaries of human endurance by taking on some of the most challenging races in the world. From HLP and Partners, season three will premiere in 4th Quarter 2015.

Esquire Network will also bring back the eight-day event RUNNING OF THE BULLS this July, featuring LIVE coverage of one of the world’s most iconic cultural traditions. Last year, interviews included John Hemingway, grandson of Ernest Hemingway, the author who famously wrote about the event in his novels.

Season 7 of AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR, the popular heart-racing obstacle course competition produced and aired in partnership between Esquire Network and NBC, will also return in 2nd Quarter 2015.

These renewals are in addition to previously announced season three pickups for KNIFE FIGHT and BREW DOGS, both slated to return in 2nd Quarter 2015. KNIFE FIGHT, from Authentic Entertainment and Flower Films, is a gritty culinary competition series hosted by chef Ilan Hall. The 16-episode third season will be set on a new coast (New York), in a new location (The Gorbals Brooklyn) and with a new tournament-style format. BREW DOGS, from Custom-Redtail Media and hosted by Scottish craft beer renegades James Watt and Martin Dickie, will continue its quest to find the world’s best craft beer scenes over a 10-episode third season.

Esquire Network will premiere an exclusive, all-access look at one of the most unique political campaigns of the 2014 mid-term elections – the improbable Congressional run of American Idol star Clay Aiken. Produced by Academy Award-winner Simon Chinn (Man On Wire, Searching for Sugar Man) and Emmy Award-winner Jonathan Chinn (30 Days, American High) through their company Lightbox, the four-hour original documentary series THE RUNNER-UP is set to premiere on Esquire Network in April 2015.

With exclusive access, Lightbox embedded inside Aiken’s campaign to represent North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District – from his candidacy decision through the shocking primary election (which ended in the death of Aiken’s Democratic opponent), and his defeat this past November to incumbent Republican Congresswoman Renee Elmers. Throughout, the documentary series shows Aiken, a gay Democrat and single father, working through strategy sessions with his team, prepping for debates and meeting with voters via town halls, bus tours and door-to-door canvassing.

THE RUNNER-UP spotlights what it takes to run an American campaign from the perspective of a candidate who is a newcomer to the political scene with few resources and little support. Throughout the campaign, Aiken struggles to convince voters – and America – to take him seriously as a political contender against those who would write him off as simply a reality TV star.

THE RUNNER-UP is produced by Lightbox for Esquire Network. Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn and Mitchell Tanen serve as executive producers for Lightbox.

The most controversial show on TV returns January 20th, but you can get an early jump on the premiere episode.

The new season finds us back in Texas, where football is life, following youth teams from the Texas Youth Football Association. Throughout, coaches and parents discuss the valuable lessons they believe football teaches children. But in a youth league where winning means everything, the adults also grapple with questions like: How much competition is too much? Is the sport safe for young children? And at what price are we pushing our kids to win?